


Anathema

by GayMars



Series: Humbling Magic AU [1]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - Magic, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Aobajousai, Background Relationships, By the end of it Oikawa and Iwaizumi are both 19, Demons, Familiars, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Magic, Magic-Users, Minor Character(s)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-30
Updated: 2018-07-08
Packaged: 2018-12-08 22:21:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,877
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11655891
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GayMars/pseuds/GayMars
Summary: Since the early feudal times, the Oikawa family has been cursed, forever doomed to have their first born child's very soul prematurely stolen from their body by creatures known as strixs on their 15th birthday. A strix is like a cousin to a demon, slightly different abilities, but some of them can be just as malicious. Death usually follows a strix wherever it goes on the occasion that one appears in the mortal world, not because they go on killing sprees, no, they simply come to collect what's due. You can't Dodge death if you're fated to die, but there are a few fabled ways to dodge a premature death via strix, Jade Vine and Larimar stones can supposedly ward them off. So on the eve of Oikawa Tooru's 15th birthday he sits in a dirty and empty alleyway clutching the silver necklace with a small Larimar stone hanging on the end looped around his neck waiting for 12am to arrive. Strix aren't mindless animals— if anything, some of them have more mercy within them than their demon cousins do, just like humans, a strix can have a name, this one in particular that staked claim on Oikawa's soul is named Iwaizumi Hajime.[This is a sister fic to my Kuroken fanfic, Humbling Magic]





	1. Prologue I

**Author's Note:**

> I have so much more planned for this series than I've let on, case in point, this fic will eventually intertwine with Humbling Magic.

Scared out of his wits. 

Sweaty, exhausted, and scared out of his wits is the best way to describe how Oikawa Tooru feels right now. It’s nighttime and the only thing illuminating his vision is a street lamp off to the side, it's not very comforting to him a he can feel his own heart hammering in his chest, the stomach churning terror that he feels now was a slow build up, it started this morning when he woke up in the orphanage with a pit of anxiety in his stomach and a knot of worry stuck in his throat.

Oikawa woke up bright and early at the usual time, 8:00am. The peaceful morning light filtered through the window of the boys’ shared room filled with several bunk beds, but Oikawa did not feel at peace. 

Today was the day. He wasn't ready; of course he wasn't, how could he be?

Oikawa tried to pretend everything was normal for as long as he could, he really did, he ate breakfast with all the other children like usual but easily spotted how his own peers sat as far away from him as they could and whispered to each other, only stealing glances at him and never looking him directly in the eyes— at least, not on purpose. Oikawa pretended he didn't notice anyways and forced a smile on to his lips whenever he caught the eyes of one of his so called friends staring at him; he felt the heavy pit in his stomach grow deeper, so he ate his frosted cereal like nothing was wrong, the milk tasted sour and the cereal was anything but sweet, and he swallowed each torturous spoonful that felt like sandpaper going down his throat.

In the afternoon most of the children went outside to play, there were slides and monkey bars, nothing too incredibly fancy but it was still fun. The sun was baking his skin that day and he didn't fail to notice how not a single soul asked to play volleyball with him, even though any other day there would be enough kids wanting to play to form two teams. Oikawa stood there in the corner of the fenced play area away from everyone else and served the ball at the wall over and over, watching the sun bleached colors of the ball blend together as they spun; his lower lip quivered and he blinked back tears he refused to let fall.

He scratched at his irritated skin, there were far too many bugs out today for his liking, 'don’t you dare cry,’ he thought to himself in a harsh tone, he furrowed his eyebrows and blinked away the tears faster.

In the evening before the sun had even fully set he sat on the floor in the room him and the other boys shared; he was alone, all the boys that were there scurried off almost as soon as Oikawa entered, so he sat there on the cold and hard ground hyperventilating and trying to wipe away the constant stream of salty tears that dribbled down his cheeks. He was dreading every second passing by as he stared at the clock; it was only 7:50pm but he knew that at 8pm the nuns that ran the orphanage would be coming to kick him out.

So much for not crying.

He gripped the wrinkled piece of paper in his hand and felt hate, it wasn't fair. His parents dumped him on the doorstep of some orphanage and now the crumpled letter in his hand is the only thing he has of them, a letter explaining how he's cursed and that they can't bother to keep him. They abandoned him. Oikawa doesn't even know why he still has that stupid letter, he hates them but he could never seem to bring himself to throw away the damn thing.

It was yesterday that they told him that they would come to escort him out, using the excuse that they couldn't risk the strix going after any of the other children. He tried to argue back, but it was futile and he was forced to resign to their decision.

Those awful few remaining minutes crawled by and as it turned 8pm three nuns walked in just as they said they would.

“It's time to go, Oikawa.” Spoke one of the nuns, her voice was hoarse, as if she used to smoke cigarettes a lot. Not one of them held remorse on their faces.

Oikawa's eyes widened and he shuffled backwards, “n-no, please don't leave me out there all alone,” he hiccuped as more tears rolled down his face, “i-it's dark out there a-and I’m scared, I'm so scared.” The nuns paid no mind to his pleas that got more desperate by the second as they roughly grabbed his arms and forced him out of the orphanage, he kicked and yelled but it was no use. Other children younger and older than him peaked out of rooms and watched as they threw him out and slammed the door shut in his face. Oikawa wasn't sure how long he sat there banging his fist on the door and begging them to let him back in, maybe an hour? Probably more.

When Oikawa finally realized that they held no sympathy towards him he drew his knees in towards his body and let his tears fall silently on the orphanage doorstep for a while. Soon, he'd cried himself all out, his limbs felt heavy and his eyes were puffy and sore, he would've liked nothing more than to just close them and sleep, but that wasn't an option anymore, he had no home, no bed. The thought made him realize that he actually did have more tears to spare, but he had done enough crying already, feeling sorry for himself wasn't going to help, so he pushed those thoughts away as hard as he could and took in a deep and shaky breath before standing up. 

The letter that he had been left with as a baby stated there were two ways to ward off strix, there was no sure fire way of knowing if it was even true though. The only reason Oikawa even knew he was actually cursed was because of the strange symbol located on his forearm, for all he knew he could be the first one in his family to have this curse, and for all he knows, there may not be any way to ward off the strix; a strix is a very rare creature, actually seeing one’s true form only happens once in a few lifetimes, and the chances of actually living after you'd encountered one? Practically non-existent.

However, at that moment, getting his hands on a Larimar stone was Oikawa's best shot, so that's what he did. He broke into a magic shop, threw a rock at the window and climbed inside by whispering a powerful incantation he'd read about in an old book, used to break charms like the one on the magic shop that prevented intruders. The book had said that it was a high level spell, but Oikawa mastered it within a few months, that's how Oikawa found out he had a lot of magical potential, but that's not very important to him right now.

Quickly, he crept into the shop, a rare stone like that wouldn't be out in the open on display; if the shop had any then it would be somewhere in the back away from the eyes of customers. The door knob was unlocked, well more accurately, the lock was broken, which was incredibly convenient for Oikawa. 

He could hear his heart pounding in his ears as her opened the door, it was dark, and Oikawa squinted as he struggled to find where the stone might be kept. He needed to hurry, he was losing time, he looked through drawers and boxes until he found a particular box made of acacia wood with pretty designs carved into it, he opened it and found several things inside, but he was only interested in one particular item inside, a silver necklace with a Larimar stone attached to it, cut in the shape of a teardrop. He pulled the necklace over his head, once it rested securely on his sternum he fled. 

Unfortunately, he accidentally tripped an unknown alert system when he opened the box made of acacia, because soon he heard the wailing of police sirens. It was extremely hard to get away from the cops that had been chasing him, and he almost got caught a few times too, but at least the adrenaline rush of escaping kept the suffocating anxiety of what was to come at bay for a few minutes. 

After what felt like much to long for Oikawa's poor heaving lungs, he lost them, panting heavily from how much he exerted himself, he found an unoccupied and dirty alleyway with a single street lamp to light his vision and planted himself there against the outside wall of a dirty building. His hand accidentally touched some unidentifiable sticky black liquid and he was pretty sure he saw a freakishly large rat crawl into one of the many metal trash cans lining the opposite wall, that's how he ended up where he is now in this musky alleyway with not a friend in the whole world.

As Oikawa wipes away a tear pricking the corner of his eye and continues to try steadying his own breathing, he curses himself for having a horrible sense of time, ‘why couldn't I have picked a better alley,’ Oikawa bitterly thinks to himself as he accidentally dips his hand in the gross black liquid again. He's not sure what smells worse, the trash cans opposite of him or the graffitied dumpster to his right.

Oikawa takes in another shaky breath in a failed attempt to calm himself, he knows that by now it should be close to his dreaded 15th birthday, but the terrifying part is that it could have already turned 12am without him knowing it, and the strix is about to steal his soul right this moment.

Oikawa isn't sure how much times passes as his heart hammers in his chest with his rapid breathing loud on his own ears, his eyes frantically darting up and down the alleyway looking for any sign of danger whilst his knuckles turn white due to his grip on the silver necklace around his neck tightening further.

The noises of the city in the very back ground are Oikawa's only company in the chilling night and eventually, he feels a hair raising sensation from behind him, as if someone's just over his shoulder and breathing down his neck, even though he’s been sitting against a wall this whole time. Oikawa follows his instincts anyways and scrambles away from the wall he was leaning against, when he looks back at the wall there's the shadow of a human figure, it looks like someone had been drawing the outline of a human during a bumpy car ride, causing it to look jagged and sharp. Oikawa just sits there, eyes wide and body paralyzed from fear as he stares at its eyes; they're completely white and soulless, just boring into his skull— what's in front of him is definitely a strix. The strix’s pointed and shadowed hand reaches out from the wall to Oikawa, aiming for Oikawa’s neck. 

Oikawa can only hear the loud droning of static inside his mind. His eyes are fixed onto the shadowy hand slowly reaching out to him, maybe it won't hurt that badly?

But, as it's barely less than a millimeter away from Oikawa's skin a loud sizzling sound is heard and the strix flinches back, the necklace with the Larimar stone worked, so as long as Oikawa's wearing it the strix can't touch a single hair on Oikawa's pretty little head.

Oikawa feels the strongest feeling of relief he's ever felt in his life, like a grave weight has been lifted off his chest… the strix on the other hand seems very irritated by this development. It's shadowy form retracts back into the wall, and this time something much different than before comes out in its place; this time, the strix steps out of the wall in the form of a human, he looks pretty irritated. He's got coffee brown spiky hair and tanned skin with sharp dark brown eyes and he's wearing very basic clothes, light grey sweatpants and a dark blue hoodie with a plain white shirt underneath. He hardly looks older than Oikawa, he’s maybe around 16?

The strix growls in annoyance, “stupid human.” 

Oikawa gasps at hearing the strix speak, “wait— a monster like you can talk?” Not only can he talk, but unbeknownst to Oikawa, the strix has a name too, it's Iwaizumi Hajime.

Oikawa's question irks Iwaizumi, “of course I can, you dumb human! Gah, I can't believe you actually have a Larimar necklace,” angrily mutters the strix.

“Well it's not my fault some ugly ass monster wants my soul!” Yells Oikawa with a sound of indignation in his voice. The strix isn't actually ugly, but now isn't really the time to give out compliments.

Iwaizumi rolls his eyes, “look, your soul was up for grabs so I took the opportunity.”

“You can't just offer up souls like your at some auction and just claim them for yourself!” Says Oikawa, outraged that the strix in front of him can be so casual about this when he had spent the whole day thinking he was going to have his soul ripped out of his body and die horribly.

“Too bad, because I already claimed your soul, and we don't get to come into this plane of existence very often, so I'm not going back to that shithole empty handed, you understand?” Says Iwa, his voice intimidating.

“People are dying all the time, j-just go nab someone's dying soul and leave me alone,” the strix said he's not leaving empty handed, does that mean he'll try to kill Oikawa?

Iwaizumi growls in frustration, “it's not that simple, hundreds of souls are claimed all at once by one strix at a time the second they’re doomed to die, I can't just reap someone else's soul, and can't leave until I get the one the I barely managed to claim in the first place.” Iwaizumi can tell from the hidden fear in Oikawa's eyes and the tension in his shoulders that the human in front of him is scared he'll try to kill Oikawa somehow so he can get his soul, Iwaizumi lets out an exasperated sigh, “I'm not gonna kill you. If I wanted to I would've done it already, dumbass.” 

Oikawa visibly relaxes, “oh.”

“This also means I'm tethered to your annoying ass until I can claim another soul.”

Oikawa frowns, “rude.” 

“I have a right to be, I'm stuck here because of you.”

“Okay that is so not my fault— you know what, just say as far away as you physically can from me.”

“With pleasure.”

The night progresses and Oikawa doesn't get a wink of sleep, cardboard boxes don't make the best mattress, so all he can do is stare up at the clouded night sky. Oikawa frowns, he can't even see a single star tonight because of the clouds and his back is stiff from laying on this poor excuse of a bed, he's using a ripped plastic bag as a blanket.

What is he supposed to do now?

He's not dead but he can't go back to the orphanage, they would never let him back in, so what can he do? Oikawa studies the dark clouds rolling by, 'my only real option is to try and make money somehow, I can't—’ a loud metallic bang jolts him out of his thoughts, he sits upright and looks down the alley and sees the strix blankly staring at him, standing next to some trash cans that were previously upright.

Oikawa groans in annoyance, “can you keep it down?”

“Why? You didn't look very busy.”

“I'm not supposed to look busy, I'm trying to sleep.” 

“Oh, right,” Iwaizumi raises a brow, “but I thought humans needed to close their eyes first?”

“Asshole,” mutters Oikawa, “just stop making noise and let me go to sleep, I didn't have a very good day and you aren't making anything better,” he snaps before roughly laying back down, facing away from the strix.

Oikawa expected him to say something back, but he didn't, the strix was silent. He sighs and closes his eyes, laying there for probably around an hour before all the energy spent today finally begins taking its toll on him; the floor is hard and his whole body aches, but he starts drifting into an uneasy slumber.

The light sensation of something touching his cheek brings his waning consciousness back a little, but he ignores it. Again though, he feels it, and then again and again, until it finally clicks, Oikawa clenches his fists so tight his fingernails might break the skin of his own palm, it's raining. “Goddammit,” Oikawa bites his tongue out of frustration and keeps his eyes screwed shut as the rain gets progressively stronger. 

Oikawa almost feels like crying out of frustration but he has certainly had enough of crying, he has to stop biting his tongue though, or else it'll start bleeding. Oikawa want to kick something but at the same time he's just so tired, too tired to get up, he hates this so much, 'does this shitty curse also give me bad luck?’ He asks himself angrily. He's practically soaking wet at this point but then the rain is abruptly cut off, there's not a drop touching him anymore, but he can clearly hear the rain continue to fall.

Oikawa opens his eyes, he's perplexed, what's sheltering him from the rain? He looks up, there’s a huge, jagged, black, feathered wing shielding him from the rain.

That's certainly not what Oikawa was expecting. Oikawa's eyes follow up the wing and to its owner, it's like the jagged shadow of a crow, except much bigger than a crow should ever be allowed to grow. It has round eyes that are pure white, just looking at its eyes give him chills that he forces himself to repress even though it's not looking at him. 

Looking at all those features, it clicks pretty quickly in Oikawa's mind, it's the actually strix…?

“My name is Iwaizumi Hajime,” the voice comes from nowhere but Oikawa knows who it belongs to.

“I didn't know if you could have a name,” remarks Oikawa, he hears Iwaizumi give an almost inaudible chuckle but it's clearly through telepathy magic, as Iwaizumi hasn't moved at all since taking this current form. 

Oikawa hears Iwaizumi sigh through the telepathic link, “I’m sorry.” Iwaizumi turns his head to look at Oikawa and the sudden movement after previously being as still as stone makes Oikawa jump a little.

It doesn't look to be intentional but Iwaizumi’s white eyes make him shiver and Oikawa forces himself to keep eye contact, “me too,” Oikawa gives him the tiniest of smiles, “my full name is Oikawa Tooru.”

“Nice to meet you, Oikawa-san,” the rain is falling harder but Iwa doesn't seem to care.

Oikawa lays back down and closes his eyes, “nice to meet you too, Iwa-chan.”

Iwaizumi’s surprised at the nickname but says nothing, by morning the rain has stopped and Oikawa wakes up with tired bones. He's thankful for the shelter last night but Iwaizumi's not in sight, Oikawa frowns and looks around the alley a bit, but he finds nothing.

“Are you looking for me?” Asks a voice from behind him, Oikawa turns and it's Iwa-chan in his human from now.

“What— no, pff,” Oikawa's cheeks are dusted pink. Iwa raises a brow, “so uh, where were you?”

Iwaizumi waves it off, “just slumming through the shadows, why you ask?”

“Oh, I wanted to say thank you for last night.”

“Which part?” Iwa snorts, “when I tried to steal your soul or when I was throwing trashcans?”

Oikawa chuckles, “definitely neither of those, I was thinking more of the part where you were actually nice.”

“Yeah sorry, I was being an asshole.”

Oikawa takes a deep breath, looking past Iwaizumi, “it’s okay.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you haven't already, go check out this fic's sister fic that I'm writing at the same time if you like Kuroken, it's called Humbling Magic, also yell at me through my Tumblr, Neptune-bug, if you wanna discuss my writing or my shitty art lmao


	2. Prologue II

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for such a big delay with this chapter, unfortunately my posting schedule is gonna be a little sporadic because of school, hope everyone understands
> 
> side note, much love to my dear friend Muriel for beta reading this!!

Iwaizumi so far had been completely silent, following as Oikawa's shadow for almost an entire week now, and with the spare change Oikawa's managed to find on the city streets, he bought himself a package of crackers, which was hardly filling. He's begged every shop he can find to hire him, but so far he's had no luck, and the lack of communication from Iwaizumi makes him feel lonely. Turns out, no one wants some dirty kid working for them, Oikawa doesn't want to be dishonest, but if he's to survive, he's going to need more food than an occasional pack of crackers bought with the coins he picks up off of the ground.

Oikawa sits at an empty table of some burger serving western restaurant that he can't quite pronounce the name of. “You gonna talk me out of this?” Asks Oikawa silently, no response. Oikawa looks away and frowns, his heart rate speeding up, he's gotta stay vigilant and time this just right.

The decor is all based around what looks to be the 70’s with pictures of famous Americans of the time framed on the walls and music that he doesn't understand with an enjoyable beat playing. It's pretty busy with waiters and waitresses walking from place to place at a brisk pace, Oikawa's surprised they even let him in.

Now, when no one is looking, when their attention is captured by the baby crying in a different booth and the fussy harpy who's getting feathers everywhere and making a scene, he sprints to the counter, not yet seen by the workers in front. A customer's scaley outstretched hand hesitates to grab their bag of fast food in favor of turning their eyes to look at the commotion behind them. A more vigilant worker yells at Oikawa to stop as his hand reaches for the bag of someone else's To Go order. As soon as the plastic bag is in his dirty hands, he's out of there, hearing the heavy footsteps of a particularly dedicated cashier behind him, running to catch him, but Oikawa's quick and lighter and he out runs the worker and barges out the door, nearly running into three different people on the way out. Once Oikawa’s outside, the cashier seems to concede and stops running after him; it's a lost cause.

Oikawa, however, doesn't stop running. He weaves through the mobs of humans and other creatures filling the city's crowded streets and makes a sharp turn into that small, grimy, pocket of darkness between the buildings. In the short amount of time he's been on his own, he's gotten quite good at living out in alleys. Something about the alleys of the city is otherworldly. It's dark and feels like it's within its own little bubble, separate from the rest of the city, so much so that the loud bustle is nothing but foggy background noise.

Oikawa leans against the building's wall and feels filthy, hiding in crusty alleys doesn't leave the most flowery scent on clothing. He pulls out a napkin from the bag and wipes his hands and face, inspecting the grime under his fingernails with disdain for a moment before his empty stomach reminds him to pull out the massive hamburger from it's wrapper. It's certainly not healthy, but the sight of it alone makes Oikawa's insides groan with hunger. 

Pushing aside the guilt from stealing someone else's food that they payed for, Oikawa takes a delicious bite of the hamburger and revels in the taste of it, he hasn't had anything like this in a very long time; he wastes no more time and quickly takes more bites and devours it with ease. “Stealing is supposed to be immoral by your standards,” reminds Iwaizumi, after not speaking for almost seven days.

“Could've reminded me that before I stole it,” says Oikawa, annoyed that this is how Iwa-chan chooses to talk with him again after almost a week of nothing.

“I was busy trying to find a soul nearby that wasn't already claimed, which is difficult when they're almost always claimed ahead of time,” explains Iwa-chan, finally showing himself as he now sits opposite of where Oikawa is.

Oikawa looks away, “Trying to ditch me as soon as possible, right?” His hand unconsciously grips the necklace protecting him, framing the question as a joke, despite how underneath it's laced with an inkling of hurt.

Stupid, he knows, anyone with a brain should want to gladly get rid of something like Iwaizumi as soon as possible, but… it's nice to have company, even if he's hardly spoken, just feeling another presence nearby has made the horrible nights where Oikawa's far too alone with his thoughts for comfort just a smidge more bearable.

Iwa-chan says nothing, human emotions are unfathomably weird, and he struggles to tell if he understood what that question truly meant. It almost sounded like Oikawa was implying he doesn't want him to leave, surely he's wrong, right? He's a strix, a species feared for literally being the reapers of souls, no living creature in their right mind would want to be anywhere near him, it's just not possible.  
Oikawa keeps on stealing glances of Iwa-chan, but he pretends not to notice. Why does Oikawa keep on looking at him? Was he supposed to say something? Even if he was, he doesn't know what the proper response should've been, hell, he shouldn't even care, he'll be gone without a word the first chance he gets, so why should it even matter? It shouldn't, but the idea of leaving nothing said pesters Iwaizumi’s mind in a way it shouldn't.

He stares at the legs of humans and humanoid creatures walking along, completely blind to Oikawa and Iwaizumi, too caught up in their sightseeing or heated phone conversations. Thousands of them all chattering them at once, if only Iwa could just borrow some of their words, but his lips stay shut, he wants to move them, truly, he does, but… it's more difficult than he'd imagined. The air around them is uncomfortable.

Iwaizumi can't even fully grasp why he cares if Oikawa seems upset, so he does something he's best at; he hides away in the shadows. Fluidly, he melts into the shadows being cast by the wall behind him and Oikawa's knuckles turn white and leave painful crescent shaped indents in the skin of the palm of his hand, “Fine,” he snaps and throws a small stone where Iwaizumi sat only a moment ago before hiding his head away behind his knees, “Just go back to ignoring me again,” he mutters, unheard by Iwa-chan.

This didn't help at all, now Iwaizumi just feels worse and he doesn't know what Oikawa's actions even mean. Talk, he needs to talk with Oikawa, figure out what just happened and what it means, but Oikawa's standing up and rubbing his eyes as if he's tired, the moment to say something is fleeting. Ah, it's already gone. 

Oikawa joins the crowds that line the streets and Iwa follows in silence.

People happily chatter around them but it feels as if there's a bubble of complete silence that encapsulates just two things, Oikawa, and the creature who hides in his shadow.

A cheerful woman in a kimono stands in the middle of the sidewalk handing out flyers for a festival just barely outside the city, Oikawa takes one and ponders on going; it's not like there's a better use of his time, a little fun amongst this recent dreariness would be nice. He waits hours until the late evening and makes his way to to festival, regretful that he he could only show up in the now dirty clothes he wore when first kicked out of the orphanage, meanwhile others at the very least have clean clothes on.

With no money, Oikawa can only watch as others play games with simple goals at wooden stalls for prizes. He stares longingly at a cute little ufo plushie and turns his attention elsewhere, he spots candy apples and his figure slumps over knowing he can't have one. However, the stall owner, a woman appearing to be in her late sixties, seems to take pity on him as she beckons him closer with a kind smile on her face and hands him a candy apple, “T-thank you,” Oikawa says with surprise and Iwaizumi gives it a look of askance from where he hides in the shadows. 

As evening fades into night and the fairy lights strung up in the trees begin to glow more prominently, Oikawa enjoys the sweet taste of the candy apple that was so generously given to him and begins searching for a good vantage point to see the fireworks which are due soon. He finds a hill all the way on the other side of the festival and begins climbing up it, and now that he's a little farther from the chatter of the festival he's keenly aware of the silence bearing down on him, he does his best to ignore it.

Oikawa sits on the fluffy grass of the hill, looking down at the yellow glow of fairy lights and paper lanterns and the nearby city lights just past the festival and gnawing on his bottom lip. Iwaizumi could say something now, that's the thought that's been invading his mind since earlier today, now he can finally stop thinking about it. Formulating what to say as the silence gets thicker around them by the second, Iwa-chan rises up from Oikawa's shadow and scoots down next to him. Oikawa flinches, not expecting Iwa to show himself and gazes at him, there's an uncomfortable air around them and a question Oikawa can't quite seem to convey in his eyes. Iwaizumi sighs, running his tanned hand through his hair, “I'm—” surprisingly, Oikawa speaks first but is cut off my the loud explosion of a neon green firework in the dark sky and the excited screams of people down below the hill.

Iwa-chan's eyes flicker up at the sky and then down at the festival, his eyes widen; those aren't screams of excitement. Demons. Demons in their ashy black forms circling humans like prey and chasing them on foot in their humanoid forms just for the fun of it, swatting away magical attacks with ease and indulging on the looks of terror on the humans’ faces. 

Iwaizumi almost grabs Oikawa by the wrist in an effort to pull him away but stops himself just in time, avoiding what would've been a very painful touch, “We need to leave, now,” he says firmly but quickly. Oikawa glances down at the festival and jumps onto his feet with lightning fast reflexes once his eyes see the chaos taking place. Oikawa's eyes quickly bounce from side to side as he scans the area, either he runs straight through the fray and possibly gets caught by the demons or he goes around the festival, which might take too long for him to escape. His heart pounding is an urgent reminder that he needs to make up his mind immediately but he's not given the chance, “Goddammit, just go!” Growls Iwaizumi from behind him, followed by a magic infused gust of wind that pushes him down back into the fray of the festival, in the distance he hears Iwaizumi call from behind him, “I'll catch up in a second!”

People and magical humanoids run all around Oikawa in every direction like panicked cockroaches in the attic once the light switch has been flicked on. Oikawa runs through the mobs of people, staying as low to the ground as he can and scanning every corner of the space in front of him with his chocolate brown eyes that hide fear just beneath the surface. Fights had already begun breaking out and a hint of the metallic scent of blood tickles Oikawa's nose in an unpleasant manner; through the skirmish Oikawa trips over someone's foot and he quickly scrambles to get back up on his feet, already running again before he's even steadied his balance.

Oikawa can see the exit up ahead, his heart thumping hard against his chest and the rush of adrenaline whizzing through him. An icy hand catches his wrist and their nails dig into his skin, “Tsk, tsk, tsk, just where do you think you're going?” The demon jeers, freezing breath ghosting by Oikawa's ears. The demon turns him around with a sharp jerk of his wrist and as Oikawa meets the demon’s eyes he gags and quickly looks down. The demon hesitates speaking for a moment, “The bell of death tolls for you,” their eyes bore into Oikawa's skull uncomfortably, it's a feeling he's had to deal with a lot recently, and his heart is lodged in his throat, thumping and a far too rushed pace. “I can hear it ringing, yet here you are. What's so special about you that causes death itself to bow to your will?” Their words take on a staccato form, more disdain in each syllable than the last. The demon’s cold eyes land on Oikawa's stolen pendant, “Oh. I see now, you, you're spe—” whatever the demon’s about to say is cut off when they get hurled back by a magic ball comprised of inky blackness; Iwa-chan had caught up.

The demon quickly gets back up on its feet, clearly furious, “You stupid human, I can't believe this strix has actually spared your life!” The demon roars, jumping on Iwa and pinning him down. Iwaizumi almost manages to break free of the demon’s grasp but an ashy colored fog controlled by Oikawa rips the demon off and Oikawa almost tries to help Iwa up but remembers the pendant he's wearing and steps back while the strix in front of him gets back up on his feet.  
Now the two of them make a mad dash to the festival exits, but more demons see them on the brink of escaping and close in on them, “Don't you dare stop running Shittykawa!” Yells Iwaizumi as he digs the heels of his feet into the ground and slows himself to a stop, taking on the several demons trying to prevent their escape by himself. 

Oikawa does the opposite of what was requested of him and begins to turn around as soon as he realizes Iwa-chan's plan, “Goddammit Shittykawa, what did I just say? Keep on running!” Yells Iwaizumi with even more force as he blocks several different attacks with difficulty. Oikawa grimaces and begrudgingly does as Iwaizumi told him and forces himself to continue forward, clearing the exit of the festival and continuing to run until the festival is far enough in the distance. Panting from his plummeting levels of adrenaline, he sits on the rocky ground, he can't calm down yet, his mind is running too fast for his breathing to catch up.

Iwaizumi claws his way out of Oikawa's shadow after a few minutes of intense silence and tries to suppress his strained wheezing. “Are you okay?” The look in Oikawa's eyes and the voice of concern he accidentally let slip out make him bite the inside of his cheek.

“I'm fine, nothing that can't be healed through the course of a few days.”

“Oh, good,” again, a sigh of relief that Oikawa accidentally lets slip out, this time Oikawa visibly flinches, and Iwaizumi notices.

They sit in silence while Oikawa refills the precious oxygen in his lungs, “Why do you care?” Asks Iwa-chan, Oikawa stiffens and Iwaizumi wonders if the question sounded too rude. It's wasn't supposed to, he's just really curious as to why any living creature would want anything to do with him.

Oikawa makes a feeble attempt to avoid the question all together, “I… I don't.” Iwaizumi stares at him blankly with those eyes that can creep right into someone's soul, his thoughts completely unreadable. Oikawa can sense that if he lets this silence hang in the air for a second more it'll go back to the way things have been, with Iwaizumi out of sight and quietly looking for a way to leave Oikawa, and he can't stand that idea, Iwaizumi moves to disappear into the shadows but Oikawa quickly speaks up, “Okay, that was a lie. I don’t know why I care— I guess I just… I don't want to be alone, as stupid as that sounds.” Oikawa's eyes take a chance and lift up from the dirty ground to look up at Iwa-chan.

Iwaizumi blinks, “Even if it's something like me?”

“Wh-what?”

“You don't want to be alone, even if it's with something like me?”

Oikawa looks at him with surprise, he's right, “You'd think that something like that would matter to me… but it doesn't. Not anymore, at least.”

“Oh,” they both look away from each other, and Iwa-chan smiles to himself.


	3. Prologue III

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you all for being so patient and waiting even though this chapter is short, thanksgiving break started so hopefully I'll have enough time to get out another chapter of this or Humbling Magic.

Oikawa pushes through the sweaty crowds of people walking the streets, on his way to a certain neat little cafe that he’s particularly fond of, mostly because there’s air conditioning and the owner— a nice lady with short black hair and sunkissed skin whose real name is Hanni despite her insisting Oikawa call her Baba— doesn’t mind him being there in the slightest, even with his reused clothes and unruly hair. In fact, she gives him a free pastry whenever she can, much to Oikawa's confusion since he doesn't have anything to pay her back with.

Engines sputter in the streets and a plane can only barely be heard flying over head. As he opens the door a little bell jingles, signifying a new customer and Oikawa deeply inhales the sweet scent of baked pastries warm and fresh out of the oven plus coffee that warms the soul with hints of swiss vanilla and maple as the much cooler air washes over him, dulling the sparks of heat dancing on his skin. Oikawa glances down at his ever-present “shadow” before seating himself in a booth in the corner, he always feels like he’s intruding, ruining the atmosphere of this refreshing cafe with his dirty fingernails and ragged clothing. 

There hadn’t been a day in the past weeks where Oikawa’s felt somewhat clean up until recently when he managed to find a public swimming pool, he almost cried tears of joy when he found the place and realized they had public showers and used them to clean himself and his clothes. The feel of clean water against his skin had been enough to keep him from noticing the quick and questioning glances in his direction.

Iwaizumi emerges from Oikawa's shadow and leans over from the other side of the booth, snapping his fingers in front of Oikawa's face to grab his attention. “Huh?”

“They thought you were some creep because of how long you've been aimlessly staring in their direction,” Iwa-chan jerks his head in the direction of a customer sitting elsewhere in the cafe shifting uncomfortably in their seat.

“O-oh,” Oikawa's face turns a little warm and his eyes dart elsewhere. “Do you think—” the sound of someone yelling interrupts Oikawa and his train of thought stops before it could even get started as a dryad slams the kitchen door open, stomping out furiously, the leaves sprouting atop her head turning red with anger.

Baba worriedly follows mere moments later, absentmindedly pushing back a lock of black hair as she calls after the worker, asking her to calm down, “I am so sick of that asshole thinking she can boss me around!” Yells the dryad.

Baba flinches at her tone, “I understand, but please calm down, I'm sure you two can come to an agreement.” Her honey brown eyes plead at the barista to not make a scene.

The dryad seems to understand the message and she visibly untenses a little, the leaves in her hair dulling down to a orangish-yellow, “I'm sorry Hanni-sensei but I can't deal with her anymore—” the dryad pulls off her apron and name tag, firmly setting them down on the empty table beside where she's standing, “I quit.” With that, the ex-barista turns around and walks out the door, leaving Baba standing there with here eyebrows knitted together deep with worry.

Oikawa purses his lips as the original shock ebbs away and conversation begins to return to the cafe, he's unsure what to say. “It was a long time coming but I thought I would've been able to find someone to replace her before it happened.” Baba sighs tiredly, speaking mostly to herself. Oikawa keeps silent, nothing he can really say to amend the situation, however, Baba looks over to him and her eyes brighten, “Oikawa-kun, I have a proposition for you, one that I think you'll like very much.”

Oikawa blinks in confusion, “what is it?” Although Oikawa still doesn't understand that people can be capable of doing kind things for nothing in return, Iwaizumi catches on from his seat across from Oikawa, she's going to offer him a job.

 

Oikawa's very anxious his first day on the job, considering he's never had a job before. In the morning he's quickly introduced to his co-workers and Baba’s familiar, a ginger cat that takes the form of a tall and lanky redhead with dark skin, who'll be training him. First the brunette is shown around the kitchen, bustling with workers baking sweet goods and making coffee for customers waiting. It's all a tad overwhelming and Oikawa is horribly worried he'll screw up his first chance to finally make money and stop living like a literal rat.

“So, this is how you operate the ovens, I'll get into recipes and things like that some other time, for now I'm only showing you the very basics since baking won't be your job, it's more like a just in case thing.” The red head rattles off instructions on how to use the oven and doesn't actually pay much attention to Oikawa, who's watching from behind the counter he's leaning on. Oikawa moves his arms, intending to shift his position only to elbow a cup of coffee right off to the table. Oikawa's heart stops and his eyes freeze on the back of his instructor, still talking about oven safety. Oikawa debates his options, he could not say anything and pretend like he had nothing to do with it or beg for forgiveness on his knees. Melting into the floor sounds like a great idea right now, he honestly wished he had the ability to do something like that like how Iwa-chan can.

Oikawa braces himself and finally looks down at the mess he's made only to see the eerie shadowy outline of a jagged hand sticking out from the shadows on the ground, holding up a perfectly fine cup of coffee. Oikawa quickly bends down to pick it up, “I owe you my life, Iwa-chan,” whispers Oikawa, the gratitude clear in his voice.

“Don't you already?” sounds Iwaizumi's distorted and unsettling voice from the ground.

“Sorry what?” Asks the dark skinned familiar.

“N-nothing nothing, just uh, telling myself to stop being so nervous."

The familiar assures him he'll do fine, “most of the first week is just gonna be me showing you the ropes anyways, no way you can mess up just standing around and watching, right?”

Oikawa chuckles out words with playfulness that don't reach his eyes, “with my luck, I wouldn't be surprised.”

“Psh, no such thing as good luck or bad luck in this life, kid,” the familiar attaches weight to their next words in a certain way that makes it seem like there's a long story behind them, “only fate.” In that moment, something about the familiar’s amber eyes feel unsettling to him, like the remains of a much deeper past. Then, it disappears as quick as it came, “so,” they smile, “lets see how you use a coffee machine.”


	4. Chapter 1

“Two whipped cream caramel lattes each with a double pump of hazelnut creamer please!” Another basic order gets called by one of Oikawa’s mild mannered coworkers from outside the kitchen, a rather delightful place that reeks of pastries and sugar, a scent that would leave any person with a sweet tooth in bliss.

Oikawa makes the order effortlessly, the task not even needing actual thought anymore, after doing this for four years his hands systematically move on their own with ease and grace as his mind wanders elsewhere. At the very beginning of his job he was incredibly lucky to have Iwa-chan’s presence nearby, catching things that fell and alerting Oikawa to the numerous mistakes he’d make while preparing someone’s order.

Although Oikawa didn’t really need that type of help anymore— he hadn’t for quite a few years already— he was still grateful for Iwa’s presence anyways. Before he knows it he’s trudging along to his small apartment located upstairs just above the cafe, already finished with his work for the day. Oikawa flops onto his well loved couch, face down in a lazy manner, “You always ignore me when I’m not at home, Iwa-chan! I was so bored today,” drawls Oikawa, his voice muffled by the decorative blanket covering the couch cushion.

With ease, Iwaizumi rises from a shadow on the floor in his usual humanoid form and slides onto the opposite side of the couch. Iwa-chan rolls his eyes, “ I swear you say the same thing every day, Shittykawa.” The years since the two best friends first met have done Iwaizumi good, he grew taller with a masculine, fruity voice— though much to his annoyance, Oikawa is still a little bit taller than him.

The chocolate haired teen lifts his face from the couch cushion, “well isn’t it true?” He quirks an eyebrow and pouts.

Iwaizumi can’t help but let his lips form a smirk, “you know the second someone saw me melting out of your shadow to talk to you they’d shit their pants.”

Oikawa snorts, “you’re not that scary,” Oikawa then grins, seeing a wonderful opportunity to tease the dark haired strix, “how could someone shorter than me ever be scary?”

Like lightning, Iwaizumi’s calloused hand grabs a throw pillow off of the couch and throws it straight at Oikawa before he can even react, laughing at the tall teen’s embarrassing squawk of surprise as he flails before managing to accidentally fall into the floor. Distracted by his laughter, Iwaizumi fails to notice the same pillow quickly approaching his own face, the plush feel of the pillow quickly shuts his jaw tight as he stares down his friend with a cold, intimidating gaze. Oikawa, on the other hand, has already realized his error but sits perfectly frozen like a deer caught in front of headlights.

In a split second Iwaizumi is off the couch and chasing his best friend around their cozy apartment with a blanket— the evil look on his face quickly communicating his intent to suffocate Oikawa with the blanket as the poor human scrambles to stay ahead of his monstrously fast friend. Oikawa jumps over chairs and maneuvers around the apartment in an effort to lose Iwaizumi, but with no other options and nowhere else to turn he spots the bathroom door on the end of the hallway and makes one last final mad dash, hoping to reach it and lock himself in before Iwaizumi can catch him.

With only meters left before Oikawa can reach his safe haven he trips and falls before feeling the air get knocked out of his chest as a large blanket is thrown on top of his body and he’s pinned down from underneath the blanket.

The two rough house and laugh as Oikawa struggles to break free of the other male’s full weight that’s pinning him down. Oikawa manages to free his head from its wooly prison, laughing and out of breath, he doesn’t even realize he’s stopped struggling. Iwaizumi merely gazes down at the precious human beneath him and for a moment forgets about the thin layer of wool that separates his calloused hands from Oikawa’s wrists.

Oikawa flushes a little under the unusually soft gaze of his friend,“Iwa-chan, you’re staring— is there something in my teeth? Oh god— there’s a new pimple on my chin isn’t there?”

Iwaizumi comes back to reality and lets out a breath of laughter and grabs one of the many pillows strewn across the floor that fell off of the couch in the folly and shoves it in Oikawa’s face, “yes and yes,” he says before abruptly standing up and ignoring the blushing teen’s squabbling as he walks away. 

It is only that night, as Oikawa lays sound asleep and Iwaizumi stares at the bright moon that casts its taunting light onto him from beyond the window that the strix realizes approximately how long he was basically straddling Oikawa.

Unbeknownst to him, Oikawa had realized that very same fact shortly after the incident itself.

 

Iwaizumi wakes before his best friend from the usual cold and restless sleep, due to the very nature of what he is, he obviously doesn’t need sleep, and it doesn’t particularly benefit him in any way but it gives him something to occupy himself with while Oikawa sleeps. Of course, since he doesn’t need sleep, Iwaizumi’s sleep schedule is quite erratic as he often wakes randomly throughout the night.

It’s nearly six in the morning and even Iwaizumi can feel the numbing cold seeping in from underneath the icy windows; though he’s unbothered by it he’s well aware that Oikawa won’t be nearly as tolerant of the chill and sluggishly shuffles into their small kitchen area to prepare hot coffee, sure to thaw the chill in Oikawa’s bones by the time he awakes. As the male pulls out Oikawa’s favorite coffee beans and mug along with other required items his mind meanders about, recalling how to make Oikawa’s favorite brew effortlessly after seeing him do it countless times during his breaks at work. Iwaizumi makes enough for two and finds his own mug to drink from— a rather basic square shape but colored with a variety of rich chocolate hues in a neat striped pattern. He sits on the couch with his coffee, the flavorful aroma wafts up from the mug but Iwa’s senses instead choose to focus on the heat radiating from the mug, only a few degrees short of burning. 

His thoughts are a bit all over the place as he takes in the heat of the mug against his hands— it’s not like him. But when his eyes close all other thoughts melt away, except for his memory of the day prior. To be so close to his friend, and yet still forever separated from the person who it seems like he’s spent a lifetime with already: his best friend.

A delicate pendant of sterling silver and larimar, pulsing with magic that could easily wipe away the existence of any strix with a touch of the wearers skin that lasts more than a few moments. Oikawa still wore it around his neck at all times— though him and Iwaizumi had begun to trust each other enough to not pull any tricks a long time ago. 

Oikawa didn’t still wear the magical pendant out of distrust for the strix, rather, it was Iwaizumi who insisted Oikawa keep it on.

Ah, but now Iwa’s getting distracted again and he feels the burning heat of the mug in his hands easily push itself into focus once more, and his thoughts easily return to the day before as he unknowingly smiles to himself, recalling what his friend had said the day before, ‘Oh god— there’s a new pimple on my chin isn’t there?’ Iwa-chan rolls his eyes despite them being closed— Oikawa literally has flawless skin, he is such an idiot.

The warmth in Iwa’s hands becomes more distinctive as he recalls the vivid sight of Oikawa’s laughing face from underneath him. The brightness of his brown eyes that crinkled with laughter and the warm lively glow of Oikawa’s fair cheeks.

For just a stolen instance of time Iwaizumi doesn’t think about what he’s doing and just imagines. He imagines that the heat of a mug in his hands could shift and bend into a tangible weight, one that intertwined with his own fingers.

But that illusion fades as soon as noises sound from the bedroom, signaling Oikawa’s finally awake. Iwa opens his eyes and takes a sip of the hot brew in his mug, allowing his pallet to absorb every part of the flavor. “Morning,” he greets as Oikawa finally exits the room, hair already styled and his face still slightly damp with cold water.

Oikawa mumbles a greeting, a smile sliding into his face when he smells the coffee, upon taste Oikawa nods in approval, “I prefer it with just like a few more grains of sugar though for future reference, Iwa-chan.”

Iwaizumi sighs, “I’ll keep that in mind for next time, Shittykawa.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i’m back for the summer


End file.
